For persons who have suffered an ankle joint distortion, who have a loose ligament in the upper or lower ankle joint, who have had surgery because of torn ligaments, or who have an ankle joint particularly susceptible to injuries, for example football players, handball players, basketball players and volleyball players, supporting and guiding of the ankle joint by a joint cuff is necessary.
Joint cuffs are known, for example for the support of the ankle joint, which consist of a rubber stocking which is formed anatomically and is compression intensive, and in this manner assures a close fit. However, the disadvantage of such a stocking is that it does not offer any protection against distortions and does not protect against force effects of even the smallest degree.
It is further known to reinforce such a rubber stocking with lateral spiral springs which lie above the ankle joint, in order to achieve a stability increase with respect to the rubber stocking. Of course, the stability achieved is insignificant, while the other disadvantages continue to exist.
Moreover, ankle lacing bandages are known which are made of an artificial leather with laterally cushioned rails and instep bone lacing. In the region of the ankle joint, elastic rails are provided which provide reinforcement. Of course, these elastic members cannot be adjusted to the ankle joint of each particular individual, and thus even a strong lacing does not bring sufficient stability.
Furthermore, sports shoes are known in which reinforcing bars are provided which are pulled up laterally over the ankle joint and are supposed to prevent twisting during sports. These reinforcing bars consist of an elastic material, so that they can adapt to the shape of the ankle bone of each individual. The stability gain is, however, only relatively small, since the adjusting of the reinforcing bars to the shape of the foot is rather imperfect. Furthermore, there exists the disadvantage that a special shoe is needed.
Furthermore, tape bandages are known, which have the disadvantage that they can be used only once and cannot be applied over scrape wounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,489 discloses an ankle joint cuff in which laterally of and under the foot a U-shaped strip of a thermoplastic is provided, on the inner side of which is an inflatable air hose which extends at least the entire width of the U-shaped plastic part. The U-shaped plastic part serves as an abutment for the inflatable hose which, when the cuff is worn, is located between the ankle joint and the abutment. The air hose is inflated and is supposed to apply pressure laterally onto the joint, so that the joint is supported laterally. The disadvantage of this known ankle joint cuff, however, is that the air pressure cannot be increased sufficiently so that lateral movement of the ankle joint is not possible, because otherwise the pressure applied onto the foot would be unbearably high. Furthermore, it has been shown in practice that the portion which extends under the foot is annoying during walking, so much so that it has in fact been replaced in practice with a band, which has resulted in a reduction of the stability of the joint cuff. As to the efficiency of this joint cuff, it does not bring any greater safety than the previously discussed joint cuffs.
A basic purpose of the invention is to provide a joint cuff of the above-mentioned type which prevents with certainty a twisting of, for example, the ankle joint during maximum athletic effort and thus satisfactorily supports the joint, which can be permanently fitted in a simple manner to the individual joint of the person to be treated, and which does not limit the capability of movement in the upper and lower ankle joint, permits rotation movements, and at the same time serves as a bone protector.